Cases and outcomes last week include Chinese online movie firm Jeboo suing five Hollywood studios and the Motion Picture Association of America. Jeboo was sued by the movie industry last year for distributing movies illegally and settled out of court, it now alleges that the false accusations of piracy have harmed its reputation… Microsoft has taken action against 21 systems builders in Australia for illegally providing pirated software to customers in the local market… A small French software company, PointDev, is suing Sony BMG for allegedly using pirated software on the company’s servers… An Emirati national has been fined for illegally downloading content of satellite channels onto his website.

Policy developments last week include the Ukrainian European Business Association and the European Crop Protection Association launching a major awareness-raising campaign in the Ukraine aimed at fighting the growing number of fake and dangerous pesticides appearing on the market… In the US, California’s Board of Pharmacy has delayed the start of a state-wide electronic pedigree drug-tracking program designed to secure the supply chain from counterfeit drugs. This is the second time the deadline for implementation of the new measures has been postponed.

Studies and reports out last week include one by US India Business Council (USIBC) and the US Chamber’s Global Intellectual Property Centre which found that piracy and counterfeiting deprived the Indian entertainment industry of $4 billion as well as around 820,000 jobs.